#2
There is no shortage of speeches on the friendship between the United States and Israel. But I am also mindful of the proverb, A man is judged by his deeds, not by his words. So if you want to know where my heart lies, look no further than what I have done

[Dawn] President Barack ObamaThey get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them... said Sunday that the United States will not hesitate to attack Iran with military force to prevent it from acquiring a nuclear weapon, but he cautioned that "too much loose talk of war" recently has only helped Tehran and driven up the price of oil.

Speaking to a powerful pro-Israel lobbying group, Obama appealed to Israel for more time to let sanctions further isolate Iran. He sought to halt a drumbeat to war with Iran and hold off a unilateral Israeli strike against Iran's nuclear facilities.

"For the sake of Israel's security, America's security and the peace and security of the world, now is not the time for bluster," Obama told thousands at the annual American-Israel Public Affairs Committee's policy conference. "Now is the time to let our increased pressure sink in, and to sustain the broad international coalition that we have built."

Quoting President Theodore Roosevelt, Obama said he would "speak softly, but carry a big stick" and warned Iran not to test US resolve.

Obama's widely anticipated speech came one day before he meets at the White House with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who planned to address AIPAC late Monday.

Three Republican presidential candidates, Mitt Romney...whose real first name is actually, no kidding, Willard, was governor of Massachussetts and is currently the front-runner for president on the Publican ticket. He is the son of the former governor of Michigan, George Romney, who himself ran for president after saving American Motors from failure, though not permanently. Romney's foot is in an ideological bucket because of Romneycare, a state-level experiment that should have been a warning against Obamacare if anyone had been paying attention. Romney's charisma is best defined as soporific, which is probably why he is leading the Publican field..., Rick Santorum...candidate for president and former U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania. He was a lawyer before becoming the Representative for suburban Pittsburgh in 1991. He lost his Senate seat in 2006 to Bob Casey, a Democrat machine politician and political dynast. Santorum is a social conservative whose primary attraction is seemingly that he is neither Mitt Romney or Newt Gingrich... and Newt Gingrich...former Speaker of the House, author of the Contract with America. Gingrich gave the country welfare reform and a balanced budget and the Publicans a landslide House victory in 1994. On the downside, he has a roving eye and a loose fly, he's opinionated, and he's abrasive despite his ability to work with the other side of the political aisle..., were scheduled to speak to the conference via satellite on Tuesday, a critical day in the primary campaign when 10 states vote in the race to find a challenger to Obama in the November election.

To Israel and to Jewish voters in this country, Obama promoted his administration's commitment to the Mideast ally.

"You don't have to count on my words. You can look at my deeds," Obama said. He defended his record of rallying to Israel's security and political illusory sovereignty, saying: "We have been there for Israel. Every single time."

Obama's comments were heavily laced with the politics of the campaign. He blamed distortions of his record on partisan politics.

The Israeli president, Shimon Peres, spoke before Obama and said that a nuclear Iran would be a menace to the world, not just to Israel's security.

Peres, whose country sees its existence threatened by the potential development of nuclear arms by Iran, said: "Iran is an evil, cruel, morally corrupt regime. It is based on destruction and is an affront to human dignity." He said Israel knows the horrors of war and does not seek one with Iran, "but if we are forced to fight, trust me. We shall prevail."

Iran claims its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.

In Israel, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said American pressure would not affect Israeli thinking on how to cope with the threat.

"We are an independent sovereign state, and at the end of the day, the state of Israel will make the most correct decisions as we understand them."

BEAVERCREEK, Ohio  After a military mother told him her daughter doesnt understand her mission in the Air Force, Mitt Romney questioned how President Obama can sleep at night, knowing troops overseas dont understand precisely what theyre doing there.

If your daughter is not familiar with the mission that shes on, how in the world can the commander in chief sleep at night, knowing that we have soldiers in harms way that dont know exactly, precisely, what it is that theyre doing there, Romney said.
Vicki Chura, from Fairfield, Ohio, was one of several people who stood to ask Romney a question this afternoon, explaining that her daughter, who she didnt name for privacy reasons, constantly tells her than she is desperate to come home from her deployment in Afghanistan.

This is her second deployment. Her first deployment, she never once said I want to come home, said Chura, choking up as she spoke about her daughter, who is a first lieutenant in the Air Force. This deployment has been extremely hard not only for her, but for my husband and I Every email, every time we Skype, we hear I want to come home now. There is no mission here. We have no definition of a mission.

This fits with what we've been discussing the last couple weeks about Afghanistan. We had a mission in 2001. That was to get al Qaeda. We sorta, kinda had a mission in 2003. That was to rebuild Afghanistan as a nation. The first mission was 90% successful, and that was plenty good. The second mission has failed.

In his reply, Romney lambasted Obama for not keeping Americans in the know about the mission overseas.

One of the things Ive found most disturbing and hard to explain is how we can have our sons and daughters in conflict, risking their lives, and not have the president on a regular basis addressing the American people, describing whats happening, describing what our mission is, describing what the goals will be, describing how much progress were making or whether there were setbacks and informing the people of America that there are other Americans making enormous sacrifices for our purposes and for our liberty, he said.

So far so good...

Let me tell you this, he continued. I know why were involved in Afghanistan, and I know what its going to take for us to be successful and bring our troops home. I want that to happen as soon as humanly possible. As soon as that mission is complete. And that mission is to pass along to Afghanistan a security force there that is capable of maintaining the sovereignty of that nation, such that we can get out and they can have the capacity to build their own nation.

We will not, we will not be able to hand on a silver platter their freedom, he said. They will have to fight for that, earn it, keep the Taliban from taking it away from them. But weve given them that opportunity. We need to finish the job of passing it off to them, and bring our troops home as soon as humanly possible.

Mittens has to say all that, I guess, since he thinks that most Pubs want to kick ass in Afghanistan. Truth is, I think a lot of Pubs and independents would be happy to say, 'mission accomplished', have a brew, and come home.

Lis Smith, a spokeswoman for the Obama re-election campaign said in a statement following Romneys remarks, Mitt Romney has no credibility to attack President Obama on Afghanistan.

Under the Presidents leadership, we are decimating al Qaeda and the Afghans are preparing to step up and take control of their security, said Smith. Mitt Romney, on the other hand, has failed to outline any plan at all for what he would do in Afghanistan and has even made clear that he would leave our troops there indefinitely.

A lie about leadership, a non-sequitor about decimation, a lie about the Afghans and a semi-true statement about Mittens. For Champ that's not half-bad.

#3
BO sleeps like a baby at night. His plan to care for his cronies and make them rich is moving along nicely. His plan to destabilize this country and pitch good Americans against each other over trivial issues is moving forward. The plan to demonize and demoralize the military is ahead of schedule. The socialist takeover of big business is in phase two and tracking nicely. Destroying everything Christian and the implementation of Sharia, scheduled for next term, is looking good. As far as I can tell he is either on track with his agenda or ahead of schedule in every area of the DIME. If I was in charge of destroying an enemy country economically and causing civil unrest I would call his plan brilliant. But then my country is that country he is out to destroy.

As of mid September of 2001 the mission in Afghanistan was larger than that. The objective was punishment and elimination of AQ's state sponsor, the Taliban.

"These demands are not open to negotiation or discussion. The Taliban must act, and act immediately. They will hand over the terrorists, or they will share in their fate."
George W. Bush, Statement To Joint Session Of Congress September 20th 2001

"We will make no distinction between the terrorists who committed these acts and those who harbor them. "
George W. Bush, September 11th 2001

[Daily Nation (Kenya)] Top Republican Eric Cantor endorsed Mitt Romney...whose real first name is actually, no kidding, Willard, was governor of Massachussetts and is currently the front-runner for president on the Publican ticket. He is the son of the former governor of Michigan, George Romney, who himself ran for president after saving American Motors from failure, though not permanently. Romney's foot is in an ideological bucket because of Romneycare, a state-level experiment that should have been a warning against Obamacare if anyone had been paying attention. Romney's charisma is best defined as soporific, which is probably why he is leading the Publican field... on Sunday for president of the United States, giving the frontrunner a boost as the primary nomination contest reaches a critical stage.

Cantor's endorsement, the first from a top member of the Republican congressional leadership, was seen as the strongest sign yet that the party establishment wants the increasingly bitter primary battle wrapped up soon.

Romney is the clear frontrunner for the Republican nomination to take on President Barack ObamaHow's it going, Sunshine?... in November but has faced stubborn challenges from two main rivals, Rick Santorum...candidate for president and former U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania. He was a lawyer before becoming the Representative for suburban Pittsburgh in 1991. He lost his Senate seat in 2006 to Bob Casey, a Democrat machine politician and political dynast. Santorum is a social conservative whose primary attraction is seemingly that he is neither Mitt Romney or Newt Gingrich... and Newt Gingrich...former Speaker of the House, author of the Contract with America. Gingrich gave the country welfare reform and a balanced budget and the Publicans a landslide House victory in 1994. On the downside, he has a roving eye and a loose fly, he's opinionated, and he's abrasive despite his ability to work with the other side of the political aisle...
"I cast my vote already in Virginia for Mitt Romney and I'm here today to tell you that I'm endorsing Mitt Romney in his candidacy for the presidency of the United States," Cantor, the House Majority Leader, said on the NBC news program "Meet the Press."

Romney, a former Massachusetts governor and millionaire businessman, is "going to best be able to lead this economy back to a growth mode, create jobs so people can feel better about the future," Cantor said.

"I just think there's one candidate in the race who can do that, and that's Mitt Romney."

His endorsement came just two days before Super Tuesday, a potentially pivotal day in the nominating battle, when 10 states vote at once.

Super Tuesday essentially ended the Republican nomination battle in 2008, when Romney capitulated and Senator John Maverick McCain... the Senator-for-Life from Arizona, former presidential candidate and even more former foot soldier in the Reagan Revolution... went on to become the nominee.

A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.

Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.

Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.